Just metres from the last houses in Bardala, a Palestinian village at the northern end of the occupied West Bank, Israel's army has been bulldozing a dirt road and ditch between the community and open grazing land on the hills behind it.

Days after the Gaza ceasefire took hold, the Israeli military launched its largest offensive in years in the occupied West Bank, displacing tens of thousands.

The raid took place as Israel’s military said it had expanded its operation to crack down on militants in the city of Jenin.

Israel launched a major military incursion in the northern West Bank in August, which it called “Operation Summer Camps.” It sent armored vehicles into the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, severing water and electricity and leading Palestinians to ration food, residents told CNN.

Israel launched the broad offensive in the northern West Bank on Jan. 21 — two days after the current ceasefire in Gaza took hold — and expanded it to nearby areas, saying it is determined to stamp out militancy amid a rise in attacks.

Israel's military told Reuters the works were for security and to allow it to patrol the area following the killing of an Israeli civilian in August near the village by a man from another town. It did not detail what it was building there.

Israel’s military sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades as it expanded operations in the territory on Sunday in a move decried by Palestinian authorities as an escalation of aggression.

Israel's far-right finance minister, a leading advocate of annexation, is meeting with Trump administration officials this week.